Case Study on Maruti Swift
Maruti launched one of its biggest success stories ever, Swift, into the Indian market in May 2005. The hatchback has been brought into the market with huge buzz and wide speculation that in its first quarter, it had a booking of around 31,000 vehicles. It is very interesting to learn and know how this brand Swift has been built. Swift is Maruti's first new model built from scratch after Suzuki took charge of the Indian venture.
Objectives of Swift
• The Emerging Hatchback Customer: Maruti sensed a nascent need in the market for a hatchback with a few luxury features, and has realised that while its 800 had been its bread and butter for long, and models like Esteem and Baleno doing from just about surviving to well enough in the market, it had to concentrate on the Hatchback segment which had increasing demand.
• Huge Opportunities in Hatchback: With players like Hyundai Getz, Fiat Palio and Tata Indica doing well in the Indian market, Maruti sensed a position for itself in the segment.
• Diesel Opportunity: While Maruti’s smaller vehicles dint allow them to be made Diesel compatible because of engine requirements, Maruti sensed an opportunity in the Hatchback segment for a model that could be converted to a Diesel offering in due course of time. This could offer a foothold for Maruti in the 19% Diesel Car market in India.
• Image Makeover: Maruti has always been branded as a carmaker for fuel-efficient India, that has always gone easy on the looks and styling department of it. And here was a real chance in front of Maruti of proving those detractors wrong.
• Globalisation of Suzuki: The globalisation decision of Suzuki thus sharing its operations across all its markets, enabled Maruti to think big and design a car usable for various markets.
• Innovation: There was a requirement for innovation in the Maruti stable with most of its names aging out, and opening up avenues for competitors to dominate. All this and more was because of Maruti not being
Objectives of Swift
• The Emerging Hatchback Customer: Maruti sensed a nascent need in the market for a hatchback with a few luxury features, and has realised that while its 800 had been its bread and butter for long, and models like Esteem and Baleno doing from just about surviving to well enough in the market, it had to concentrate on the Hatchback segment which had increasing demand.
• Huge Opportunities in Hatchback: With players like Hyundai Getz, Fiat Palio and Tata Indica doing well in the Indian market, Maruti sensed a position for itself in the segment.
• Diesel Opportunity: While Maruti’s smaller vehicles dint allow them to be made Diesel compatible because of engine requirements, Maruti sensed an opportunity in the Hatchback segment for a model that could be converted to a Diesel offering in due course of time. This could offer a foothold for Maruti in the 19% Diesel Car market in India.
• Image Makeover: Maruti has always been branded as a carmaker for fuel-efficient India, that has always gone easy on the looks and styling department of it. And here was a real chance in front of Maruti of proving those detractors wrong.
• Globalisation of Suzuki: The globalisation decision of Suzuki thus sharing its operations across all its markets, enabled Maruti to think big and design a car usable for various markets.
• Innovation: There was a requirement for innovation in the Maruti stable with most of its names aging out, and opening up avenues for competitors to dominate. All this and more was because of Maruti not being